White turned ASU-UA rivalry around

Wilford White starred for ASU at running back from 1947-50

No matter how tough the going is for Arizona State football now, it was worse in 1946.

In the second game of the first season after World War II, Arizona embarrassed the then-Arizona State College Bulldogs 67-0 in Tucson, a margin never seen before or since in the Territorial Cup.

Wilford White, already known as Whizzer, watched from the press box. He'd turned 18 two days earlier and returned kicks 80 and 65 yards for touchdowns for Mesa High the night before.

Now, certainly, there could be no doubt who would win White's college services. Unless Gen. Robert Neyland of Tennessee or some other big-school interloper turned White's head with an under-the-table offer to leave Arizona, why would he not choose UA after that debacle?

"I made the decision that night I wasn't going to UA," said White, now 81 but still able to tap into six-decade-old emotions. "I saw in the last minute of the game, Freddie Enke and all the varsity guys were in the game, running that score up. I didn't like the way they did it."

Newspaper accounts make it clear that the Wildcats played second- through fourth-teamers for much of the game. But Enke did a throw an 18-yard touchdown pass after a fumble recovery for the final touchdown that, to ASU's eventual gratitude, made such an impression on White.

Father and son

Danny White wasn't simply being modest with his response to being named The Republic's Arizona Athlete of the Century in late 1999.

"I'm not even Number 1 in my family," insisted White, who led ASU in passing from 1971-73 then played 13 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. In fact, since the Sun Devils became more pass-oriented in the post-Frank Kush era, Danny's records are falling faster than those of his father, No. 14 Arizona Athlete of the Century.

Whizzer White, at ASU from 1947-50, still is No. 1 alone or tied for 18 school records, including career all-purpose yards and touchdowns.

"I like to think he couldn't run like I could," Whizzer said of Danny. "But I couldn't throw and think and do these other things like he does. He's an intelligent guy to start with, and he's really got a good football mind. The mystery to me has always been why that school over there (ASU) hasn't seen that and taken advantage of it. But, you know, if you look back through the books, they never hire their own."

That criticism is nothing new and not reflective of an estrangement between White and his alma mater. Rather, he wants ASU to succeed so much that he's not shy about putting in his two cents - like his opinion of the new indoor practice bubble that he and Danny visited during an August practice.

"We practiced three times a day in the heat," Whizzer said. "What pansies these guys are. Then to spend a million dollars and let go of (Camp) Tontozona. So they have a couple of rainy days up there - so what? You get those kids away from their element, and you get them thinking nothing but football day and night for those few days.

"It's a nice facility, but it's not the same because when they leave they're out (in Tempe). Up there when they leave (the field), they're still together."

Although it's a reach for many former Sun Devils to connect the 2-year-old bubble with consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 1946-47, the jury still is out on abandoning tradition.

Danny White at ASU, photo courtesy of ASU football

The Brain's train

Former Boston College quarterback Ed Doherty, after one season as an assistant under Frank Leahy at Notre Dame, became ASU football coach in 1947.

His hiring coincided with the creation of the Sun Angels booster group, the Bulldogs becoming the Sun Devils and the creation of Sparky as athletic mascot. And with the arrival of Whizzer White, the Mesa Meteor, they had a 5-foot-9, 160-pounder with the speed and moves to keep The Brain, as Doherty was known, working overtime on creative strategy.

"We ran a straight-T, a wing-T, shotgun and the 'I' formation, all of those," White said. "He told me one time when we were alone, 'You know, don't you, that I put that wing-T and that shotgun in because of you.' He said, 'I wanted to utilize your abilities, and that was the best way.'

I said, 'You mean because I was scared.' "

ASU improved under Doherty each season - to 4-7 in 1947 and 5-5 in '48 - with the gap narrowing against UA to 26-13 then 33-21. But with 11 consecutive rivalry wins, the Wildcats still were a 3- to 5 1/2-point favorite for the '49 game at ASU's Goodwin Stadium. White suffered a slight concussion during practice but had no intention of sitting out.

Here's how Ben Foote of the Phoenix Gazette described White's part the 34-7 win 60 years ago:

"White's big contribution was 145 yards from scrimmage in 45 carries, one of the best efforts of a brilliant career. And the relish with which he tore through the Arizona line for long gains and touchdowns provided a great comic relief for the 18,000 fans, whether Arizona or Tempe rooters. On both his touchdowns, White bounded into the air with all the fervor of an exuberant kid on Christmas morning."

Harmonic home

When knee surgeries reduced his NFL career to two seasons with the Chicago Bears, White knew that there was no place like home.

He took over Mesa Merchant Police from his father and has run the security company from the same small office tucked away in downtown Mesa since the early 1960s. Just around the corner on Main Street is Milano Music.

And White always has time to play some harmonica, just as he did growing up.

Before he was Whizzer, he was dubbed "the wizard of the harmonica" by his freshman football coach at Mesa. That evolved into the same nickname given to Byron White, All-America halfback at Colorado in the 1930s and later a Supreme Court justice.

Using a harmonica recently given to him from Milano's, White serenades a visitor with "This Old Man." Then he switches to a Chinese harmonica and then a chromatic. He seems more of a kid than an old man.

"The thing I'm amazed at more than anything is the fact he's blended into life," Danny White said. "He had a great career, but you'd never know it to talk to him. He doesn't bring it up. It's more about his family. That's what he lives for."

From two sons and three daughters, Whizzer and his wife Shirley have more than 20 grandchildren, including current Brigham Young quarterback Max Hall, and 50 great-grandchildren. There's little to complain about except perhaps the rotator-cuff surgery he had to endure last spring.

"Sometimes I pick up a rock, and I can't throw it real hard yet," he said, clicking into competitive mode. "When we go to the mountains, me and my boys try to see who can throw the farthest underhanded. Up until this year, I could beat them both."

Wilford White at Mesa High in 1946, photo courtesy of Kukulski Bros. Archives

Whizzer of ASU

Rankings for Wilford "Whizzer" White, who played at Arizona State from 1947-50 and was the team rushing leader for three years.